Attack on Titan v. 9

I have been reading the series since I started it two months ago, reading on the mangas between other books and when I was out of the house (yes, this was my purse book). Finally I have reached the point at which the anime stopped with volume 8. Here in volume 9 is what comes next in the story! And wow, in just one manga, a total of 4 chapters, so much more of the story has been revealed, only leaving me with a ton more questions! It is nonstop action for our characters as they are not given a moments rest before the next attack occurs. And we get to see more of the 104th training corp Eren was a part of as they are watched closely and backstories are revealed. Because there are more secrets among these new recruits than anyone could have guessed!

If you are looking to pick up where the anime left off this is the book to pick up. Although,  would recommend reading volume 8 because there was a single scene in it that may prove to be important as we move forward.  Or, you can wait until 2017 when, rumor has it, season 2 will finally be released!

Let me know if you do, did, or will read the manga, I love finding fellow fans of this incredible series!

Attack on Titan v. 1

After a long dry spell in the book department, I immediately went to the graphic novel/manga section at the library. Because what doesn't push you back into the mindset of reading like a good comic? I started the show Attack on Titan last week and after getting half way through season 1, I saw this sitting on the shelf. Of course I had to pick it up because the show is awesome but there is only one season available at this time. Reading the manga, I was hoping to get further into the story that is so interesting. I am so glad I did!

Attack on Titan is the story of 2000 years from now when these giants have appeared to try and wipe out the human race, simply for the pleasure of killing off humans. Eren Jeager is the main focus of the story as he watched his home town destroyed by titans and his mother eaten by one five years before the main story takes place. Now the titans have attacked again and Eren is a cadet in the army and determined to kill every last one of them. But things are never that straightforward.

I've only picked up the first volume because sometimes the differences are too great or maybe the story telling isn't as good. . . Now I am kicking myself for not getting the first 10! The only real difference between the show and the manga is the added training scenes that showed a little more of what the cadets went through to become soldiers in the show. But maybe those will come a little later, I don't know. Either way I like the quick pace of the manga that throws you right into the story and makes you keep moving forward.

That being said, I didn't breeze through this one like I have with other mangas. Not because I didn't want to, no, I think if I had all day I would have read it all in one sitting. But as it was I was forced to put the story down at chapter 3 to get things done. And the story if heavy. It isn't just a couple of nice pictures with dialogue bubbles. Even watching the show first I had to slow down, take a little more time with each page, really let it all soak in. And if you ask me that is what makes it great!

Bonus: I was reading it at the DMV and the kind lady that got me my ID replacement smiled and said she loves Attack on Titan. Already I liked her and things went smoothly.  And my husband and I may have scared a few others waiting with our talk of killing titans and Vertical Maneuvering Devices.

So if you are cool with manga and haven't already, pick this one up! The story is intense, the thought behind every aspect of the story is incredible, and the characters and plot are just awesome. Check it out!

The Circle Trilogy

Last month I read Black: The Birth of Evil, a graphic novel by Ted Dekker. Well, I finished the series and here is my follow up with the next two.

Red: The Heroic Rescue

Sticking with what I said about Black, I wasn't thrilled with this one.

While it has an intreguing premise, it just doesn't translate well to the graphic novel format.

This one starts off simultaniously years after the events in the last one and only moments later. Let that mess with your mind. And while you get glimpses of what filled those 15 years in one world, mostly you are just expected to live with the gap. Because the story must move on.

Also, while the Christian God/Elyon correlation was there in the first one, it goes above and beyond in this one with Elyon sacrificing himself, demanding the followers "drown" in his blood (baptism), and then offering a salvation. If the Christ story is not your thing, you'll want to avoid this series.

And yet I was still interested to know how Dekker was going to make ends meet. So on to the next one.

White: The Great Pursuit

Reading this one led me to believe that with each installment, this story got just a little harder to read. The gaps between them in terms of years going by in one reality, coupled with all the story Dekker tried to cram into just three short books, became just too much. And with this last one, my suspension of disbelief was stretched too thin, making it hard for me not to roll my eyes and think "well of course things fell into line for this guy."

With each new event, particularly in this book, things just got harder and harder to "roll with." Of course so-n-so was someone conveniently placed in a position of influence in both worlds. Of course Thomas magically convinced the bad guy to help his cause. Of course everything was just a little too convenient and easy to fix. I was expecting more from Dekker and I just don't think graphic novels are his medium.

All that being said, I still find the concept mildly intriguing and perhaps in the future I will still pick up the novels, read the story in a format that gives Dekker more room to move and tell his story, and hopefully the result will be better.

Until then I can only willingly encourage hardcore Dekker fans to pick up these graphic novels. Sorry. They just weren't my thing.

Black: The Birth of Evil

Oh guys, I really hate to say this, but this was not a good read. Let me explain a little further, you may still want to give this one a chance, especially if you prefer graphic novels.

Ted Dekker is an amazing writer. My husbands loves his work, I have many of his books, and I always look forward to them. In fact, I have the book Green which is book zero in the Circle Series, I just haven't had the chance to read it yet. So imagine how thrilled I was to find a graphic novel version of his circle series, sans Green though.

However, despite being a great storyteller, Dekker does not translate to graphic novel so well. I don't know, this is just my personal opinion and without the comparison of the books this series imitates, so take all this with a grain of salt.

The Circle Series follows one Thomas Hunter who falls asleep after a gunshot grazes his head and finds himself in another world, where he is just waking up. What follows is a crazy switch between two worlds, the second o which could be the future of this one if a giant talking white bat is to be believed. Thomas then continues to bounce back and forth between the two worlds to save one and live in the other (complete with learning to fight and wooing a woman). The back and forth is just too much for this format. I think it was missing a little too much in the narrative, something that you have to be careful with when writing a graphic novel. Because of this, I find some of the conversations and events to be a bit ridiculous. And it actually took me 2 days to finish this one.

That being said I sat down at my computer fully prepared to tell you that not only did I not enjoy this, I had no plans to pick up the next two installments. But, no, you know what, I think I will. After all, they are simply graphic novels, short and easy to read. Dekker took the time and believed that it was worth moving his story to this format, I can give him a little bit of my time to finish the series, see if it gets better. And even if I don't like these I will also be picking up the novels, because I already told myself I was going to read them, and I believe this concept will be great as told by this writer.

So I won't tell you not to read these, I just won't push it on you like I have other books. And check back in a day or two for the reviews of the next two books. I'll attach them to this one for convenience.

Edit: I finished the series and posted my review of Red and White.

Serenity: Those Left Behind

Well, I found this little surprise at our local library and of course had to pick it up. As a huge fan of the show (and Fillion and Whedon in general) I was happy to have yet another reason to return to the story. After all, I just rewatched the show and movie a couple weeks back and was starting to feel the familiar ache of loss.

So here we have a short graphic novel looking into that time between the ending of the show and the start of the movie. In classic Whedon fashion it helps explain why Inara and Shepard Book are not on the ship at the start of Serenity without having to explain anything at all!

The story was too short, much like an episode of Firefly, but also like the show it is filled with sharp witty comments and near death moments. Although, I feel obliged to point out that a comic does not have the same punch as a show, this comes close with a few surprises and new escapes.

And bonus, there is a letter from Nathan Fillion to start off the story recounting his love of comics and superheros that led him to eagerly sign up for the role of Malcolm Reynolds.

So if you like the show, find this little bit more and get some more story on Mal and the crew. I will be looking forward to finding the others in the series to continue this story line and get my fix!

Chew Volume One: Taster's Choice

Tony Chu is a cibopath, someone who can take a bite of something and determine it's history. An apple will tell him the tree in the orchard it grew from. A piece of bacon will show the horrible living conditions the pig suffered through before it's brutal murder. A bit of human blood can show a person's past crimes. All except for beets for some reason. Tony eats a lot of beets. He also works for the FDA in a special crimes unit. These are his stories.

Taster's Choice is the first 5 comics in the series, just a little taste of what's to come in the series. (See what I did there. Hehe.) Anyway, it was given to my son and he handed it to me with a "read this mom, it's really weird and cool." He was right. I like the artwork, it's unique and perfect for the weird nature of the story. The events of Tony's life are completely random and sometimes completely out there. But hey, that means you never know what is going to happen next.

For those looking for something completely new, this is your thing. If you are looking for a tame comic to introduce your kid to the world of graphic reading. No! This is not it. This guy gets readings from food. So that dog corpse vacuum dried in the evidence room for a week, yup, he's going to take a chunk out of it. And then he is going to cuss up a storm about having to do it. Of course as a bad parent that let's her nine year old watch The Walking Dead, I have approved it for Jareth's reading list. But if you don't want to see the blood, violence, foul language, and one very suggestive water-color vision, don't pick this one up. If you don't mind all that, give this one a try. It's actually kinda funny, a lot weird, and a little promising. I'll be getting the next one soon.